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Indian Car Buyers Have Learnt to Say NO

Here is one for the road. The Indian car industry has recorded a sales figure of 15 lakh passenger vehicles in the last fiscal (quite an achievement.eh?). The best part is yet to come. According to a new finding, these cars were expensive compared to the cars used in other countries and were never designed for Indian drivers.

Even before the automotive boom in India, We had been slavishly adhered to Ambassador and Premier Padmini in the past. In the 1980s, it was a symbol of prestige to own a Maruti Suzuki 800 for an average Indian and soon this followed with the vehicles rolled out from the factory to this average Indian. As we compare these cars to the other cars of the world in those days, we get to know that the average Indian had been taken for a ride with this substandard car offered to him.

After long, the Government of India in its sanest move opened our car market to the international car manufacturers. And guess what, the “average Indian”, as we would have liked to portray ourselves back then thought we would be treating with other Asian car brands and European car brands. But that was just our perception back then. Sigh!

All modern car manufacturers design their cars using information on the average physical attributes of users. The study in this line is called anthropometric study which takes into consideration criteria like - height, weight and key physical specifications of the users.

Therefore, every car that is sold in India has to be altered to suit the “Indian condition”. Instead of making an improvement, the car manufacturers impair the vehicle and give it to us with a big price tag: Charged for the modifications! Hell yeah “Indian Conditions” you know.

In the new and challenging Indian automobile industry, Maruti Suzuki uses dummies that were once created for US or Japanese vehicles. Only a few of the car makers can live up to the specific Indian norms. But everything just changed drastically once the new generation of “average Indian” came on board. He just didn’t take what was offered but began to demand for the goods best suited for his specifications. Over the years, the automotive industry in India realised that they could not play with the new generation of Indian car buyers. Finally, the car makers are creating a niche- they are equipped to provide the best amenities and avoid price war.

The biggest SUV manufacturer in India, Mahindra and Mahindra with the highest selling utility vehicles like Scorpio, Bolero and the recently launched Xylo have all been highly appreciated by their users. But Mahindra has its own way of designing vehicles for Indian user based on the data provided by SAE international, a global association of engineers from automotive, aerospace and heavy vehicle industries.

Sales experience with Indian car buyers suggest that the characteristic of a typical Indian customer in yore years was to buy anything that fits his budget. But it is evident that the traditional way of thinking is undergoing a major overhaul. Indian car buyers now have started looking for additional features like ABS, airbags, good driving posture, height adjustment seat belt, tilt steering and stable ride quality and many more to list. The Gen X car buyers take factors like exteriors, build quality, interiors, boot space and leg space into consideration before making a purchase. Indian car buyers are no more penny pinchers who would compromise. “The Average Indian” had arrived in a big way with a bang without making any compromises on his car.

The humble Maruti-800 that had once flooded the lanes and roads of India finally was overtaken by many quality cars. Maruti 800 sold less than 3000 units for the month of December 2008 proving that the Maruti’s price advantage no longer seems to be a reason to adjudge it as the best car. So it can be deduced that there is an aspiration factor even in the bare basic segment. The practice of under-engineered cars to save those few grands is not going to pay off any more.